Barry Levinson

In his two-hour-and-fifteen-minute interview, Barry Levinson discusses growing up in Baltimore and attending American University, where he first became interested in pursuing a career in radio or television. He describes moving to Los Angeles, meeting Craig T. Nelson in an acting class, and how he and Nelson became writing partners, working on Lohman and Barkley and The Tim Conway Show. He tells stories of writing for The Carol Burnett Show, of working on Mel Brooks movies, and how Brooks encouraged him to write his film Diner. For Diner, he describes writing and directing the movie, the process of filming it, the use of improvisation, and how the movie was received. He goes on to describe working on his other successful movies including Rain Man and Good Morning, Vietnam. He then tells stories of his work in television, including how he came to executive produce Homicide: Life on the Street and Oz and working on HBO movies including You Don’t Know Jack and Phil Spector. He concludes by discussing the then-current state of the film and television industries, giving advice to aspiring writers, sharing what he loves about directing, and career highlights and regrets. Jenni Matz conducted the interview on September 20, 2016 in New York, NY.